Have I wasted my money (1 Viewer)

[foxydave]

Thought I was doing the right thing by buying a ring flash now I read they give out a very flat light and are not good for macro ie butterfly's :C

 

[tjsimonsen]

I used a ring flash back in the film days (use a 24ex twin-light today), and while the ring flash sometimes could result in a rather flat image, I was generally pleased with the results. Yes, the 24ex is better, but it is also significantly more expensive.

Am I understanding you correctly that you haven't actually used it yet? If so, try it out and learn what the limitations are, and try to stay within them.

Thomas

 

[foxydave]

Hi Thomas no I haven't will give a try thanks for reply

 

[DaveAitch]

I think, as with all things, it's a case of horses for courses. "Flatness" has often been levelled at ring-flash because the result is somewhat shadowless. Modern ring-flash tend to have two tubes which can be set at different strengths and so largely prevent this. There is another potential problem though: the bright shot reflection. The (rather expensive) Canon twin head macro-flash largely prevents that, but you do need a big budget.

Photos enclosed taken with Pentax *ist DS, Pentax 100mm macro lens and old Pentax ring-flash (I'd have to double check on the model), to show you what I mean about light reflection. In most shots it isn't this much of a problem - and certainly, except on decent sunny days, to get the best combination of shutter speed/f-stop/film speed a flash is just about essential. (ISO 400, 1/125, f11)